Locating Method

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for locating a first mobile terminal within a radio network. Said method comprises the following steps: a first locating process is carried out to determine an initial position of the first terminal; the first locating process is deactivated; a second locating process is carried out to at least approximately determine the current position of the first terminal relative to the initial position; and the first locating process is activated and carried out again to determine a new initial position of the first terminal when the current position reaches a minimum distance from the initial position. The invention also relates to a method for determining cliques of mobile terminals in a radio network encompassing a plurality of mobile terminals. Said method comprises the following steps: one or more independent numbers of terminals is determined, each couple of terminals of each of the independent numbers being located at a distance from each other that is greater than a predetermined threshold value; and at least one clique of terminals is determined, the couples of which are located at a shorter distance from each other than a predetermined threshold value, each independent number containing a maximum of one terminal of the clique.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a U.S. national stage application of PCT application PCT / DE2008 / 001269, filed Jul. 31, 2008, and claims the benefit of priority from German patent application DE 10 2007 035 855.7, filed Jul. 31, 2007.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a locating method and a device for carrying it out and, in particular, an efficient control of at least one accurate locating method and at least one energy-saving locating method on a radio-based terminal (e.g. mobile phone) for carrying out proactive, location-based services.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Location-based services (LBS's) provide users with information and services according to their whereabouts. While the user is provided with location-based information on request in the case of reactive LBS's, proactive LBS's automatically initiate service actions when predefined spatial events occur, such as w...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]The present method can advantageously use the signals from surrounding base stations to dynamically control the deployment of the first locating process.

[0022]The present method differs from other (“inaccurate”) methods of position determination based on radio signals from surrounding base stations, in that there is only a relative distance assessment and no absolute position determination. The costly incorporation of network topology data or the a priori measurement of fingerprints is thereby avoided.

[0023]The present method can be implemented irrespective of equipment. This means that it can easily be integrated into existing terminals with location determination (e.g. GPS units).

[0026]This method according to the invention is characterised in that cliques can be determined in a simple, energy-efficient manner, which means that existing resources are conserved and communication between the terminals and an overriding server, which is usually available to provide click-based LBS's, can be reduced.

Problems solved by technology

The main problem with proactive LBS's until now has been executing them efficiently.

The known locating methods have the following disadvantage in relation to the identification of update zones.

In some cases this results in high (technical) costs.

In the case of terminal-based methods, the continuous position calculation leads to high power consumption by the terminal.

In the case of network-based and network-supported methods, signals must again be transmitted constantly from the terminal, which puts a strain on the limited air interface and leads to significant scalability problems.

Moreover, the frequent transmissions likewise lead to high energy consumption.

Images